TRANSFER OF EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE: NEW INNOVATIVE COURSES ON PRECISION AGRICULTURE
First meeting of Erasmus project Partners + 597985-EPP-1-2018-1-KZ-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP " New innovative courses in Precision Agriculture "(NICoPA) was held at the Technical University of Berlin (Germany).
It was attended by partners of the Nicopa project consortium from Germany, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Sh. Ualikhanov Kokshetau State University is also among the delegates. Its working group was headed by the rector of the University Marat Syrlybayev. The group includes an advisor to the Rector for International Project Management of Anuar Kakabayev and Head of the Department of Economics and Accounting, local coordinator of the NICoPA project NICoPA from Sh.Ualikhanov Anargul Belgibayeva. All travel expenses were covered by the Berlin Technical University, by the way, at the expense of grant funds from the Erasmus+KA2 2018NICoPA project.
The aim of the NICoPA project is to modernize existing curricula and modules in the field of precision agriculture using new GIS technologies (geographic information systems), the accumulated large database on agriculture , remote sensing of the Earth, analyze and update existing educational programs in accordance with the needs of higher education and the implementation of the principles of the Bologna Process. As well as the development of new accredited and certified educational programs in precision agriculture in accordance with new achievements in agricultural science and the needs of the labor market.
Within the framework of the NICoPA project,nine teachers of the Sh. Ualikhanov KSU will be trained in partner universities from Europe (Berlin Technical University (Germany), Plovdiv Agricultural University (Bulgaria) and Czech University of Life Science (Czech Republic). All this is for sharing experience and building capacity in the development of precision agriculture courses. After testing educational trajectories on precision agriculture in three universities of Kazakhstan, which are experimental sites (S.Seifullin KATU, M. Kozybayev SKSU and Sh.Ualikhanov KSU), the results obtained will be distributed among universities of Kazakhstan and Central Asia.
The first day of the kick-off rally was held on March 4, 2019 at the Berlin Technical University. Welcoming remarks were made by Prof. Dr. Hans Ulrich Heiss and Head of the International Relations Department Evelina Skurski. Presentations were prepared by European partners from Plovdiv Agricultural University, Bulgaria, Czech University of Natural Sciences, Czech Republic and Potsdam State Farm. Partner universities from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan also made 10-minute presentations. A report on the analysis and review of existing training programs in the target area and a plan for updating existing and developing new training programs within the framework of the NICoPA project were presented.
On behalf of KSU Sh. Ualikhanov made a presentation and a short report on the achievements of the university and existing educational programs in agronomy and agroengineering, the possibilities of updating courses and modules with directions in precision agriculture at kick-off meeting at the Berlin Technical University, Candidate of Biological Sciences Anuar Kakabayev.
BTU project Manager Arnold Shterengarz and his assistant Elena Eingorn delivered the main presentation of the NICoPA project inthe afternoon. They talked about managing work packages, discussing project activities, including a plan to modernize existing ones and develop new training programs.
Within the framework of the NICoPA project meeting in Berlin, on the first day of the kick-offmeeting on March 4, 2019, a "Memorandum of Understanding" (cooperation) was signed between Kokshetau State University named after Sh. Ualikhanov and the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers (Republic of Uzbekistan). The document provides for the development of international cooperation in the field of education and science, academic exchange of teaching staff, students, undergraduates and PhD doctoral students, joint implementation of double degree programs, participation in international conferences and seminars, conducting joint professional practices at the educational and research centers of the two universities, publishing and publishing scientific articles and journals.